Study: Sprite, Gatorade NBA sponsorships tops

Sprite and Gatorade consistently register bigger gains with fans of sports
leagues they sponsor than other drinks (including beer), fast-food restaurants and
credit-card companies, according to a study released by Harris Interactive.

Data covering March 2000 to July 2001 shows the drinks notch their biggest gains
from NBA sponsorships.

"Their leveraging strategies are effective in terms of reaching the fan base,"
said Nadine Gelberg, executive director of sports and entertainment for Harris Interactive.
"They have good partnerships."

The Harris Interactive Customer Impact Index compares the general percentage
of the population that uses the products vs. the number of die-hard fans who use
them, hoping to show which partnership excels because of brand loyalty.

For example, according to July numbers, 30 percent of the general population
drinks Sprite, while 45 percent of die-hard NBA fans do. The soft drink thus earns
a 15 rating in the consumer-impact index. Gatorade tallied the biggest rating during
the survey period with an 18 in March for its NBA deal.

Though Gatorade's NBA sponsorship is extremely effective, its WNBA sponsorship
received the lowest customer-impact rating among any product surveyed. While 77
percent of the general population drinks Gatorade, only 59 percent of WNBA die-hard
fans drink it, according to July numbers.

Gelberg cautioned that a negative rating does not mean a sponsorship makes fans
less likely to use a product.

"WNBA fans may not be active sports-drink consumers," Gelberg said. "Or Gatorade
may have to be much more creative in leveraging the WNBA. It's not the league itself
that has value. It's the right partnership."

In July, soft drinks averaged close to a 4 in the consumer impact index, while
fast-food restaurants averaged less than a 2 and credit cards got a 0.

Other notable successes include Napa's sponsorship of NASCAR. NASCAR fans are
22 percent more likely than the general population to visit the auto-parts dealer.